The best laptops for your every need

Updated: We've added the Gigabyte P37X to our list of the best gaming laptops, read on to see a quick snippet about it and then check out our glowing four-star review forthis thin and light 17.3-inch laptop.

With Windows 8.1 here and Windows 10 on the way, Ultrabooks taking off in popularity and laptop-tablet hybrids seeing more releases, figuring out what is the best laptop is more difficult than ever.

Cheap laptops, like Chromebooks, are more powerful and capable than ever, while high-end devices are often perfectly good replacements for your desktop computer, able to cope with more intensive programs. To pick the best laptop for your needs, it's important to start off by deciding what it is you're doing to be doing with it.

Those after a fast boot up time and a lightweight machine to carry might drool over an Ultrabook.

Serious gamers will want a machine tailored to their graphical and processing needs, while those after flexibility might fancy a convertible laptop-tablet hybrid.

It might seem overwhelming at first – and it can be what with all of the choices – but we're here to help you find the best laptop for you. Believe us when we say that there is a perfect laptop out there for you. With this guide, you'll find not only that, but which is the absolute best.

Who knew a 17.3-inch gaming laptop could be so thin and light

Our latest addition

The Gigabyte P37X is the latest laptop to join the thin and light gaming laptop craze. It's a refreshingly bland 17.3-inch machine that skips on all the pazazz that screams "I'm a gamer" to focuses purely on delivering high-octane performance in a compact 0.88-inch frame.

The P37X offers fantastic performance thanks to its beefy configuration with a top tier Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GTX 965M humming under the hood. All of the benchmarks were run at 1080p in maximum detail, and it coped just fine - most impressive for a portable system. There's loads of memory, a fast quad-core CPU and a highly powerful GPU.

What's more this system has a superb 17.3-inch IPS display panel to provide the spanning view of all the in-game action. Amazingly despite the large screen and energy hogging components, the Gigabyte P37X managed to run for a surprisingly long 4 hours, mroe than long enough to watch two films on a long flight or train ride.

Break down the types of laptops for me

Back in the day, there were simply laptops for leisure and those for labor. Today, there are several options for both sides of the fence, some of which jumping back and forth over it. Let's start with the basics:

Ultrabooks

These laptops are essentially devices that must meet certain standards of thinness, lightness, power and size established by processor-maker Intel in an effort to help Windows-loyal notebook vendors compete with Apple's 13-inch MacBook Air a few years ago.

The result has been some seriously premium machines that have lately been enough to rival Apple's best. Think of laptops under an inch thin with long battery life and crisp screens, like the Samsung Ativ Book 9 Plus or Acer Aspire S7. And lately, folks have been squeezing dedicated GPUs into the form factor, like the Acer Aspire S3.

Workstations

Designed almost solely for work, hence the name, these usually beefy laptops have one thing in mind: productivity. Vendors generally equip these units with professional-grade GPUs, like the Nvidia Quadro series or AMD FirePro line.

Other characteristics of workstations include a wider variety of ports and easier access to internals than most consumer-grade notebooks. Not to mention more legacy inputs, like trackpoint cursors, and hardware-level security options, like fingerprint scanners. Examples include the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbonand HP ZBook 14.

Chromebooks

These laptops run on an all-new operating system created by Google and called Chrome OS. As the name implies, Chromebooks rely almost solely on Google's homebrewed browser, Chrome. This means that everything from creating word documents to listening to music to printing and beyond is handled with the Chrome browser.

The result is a system that can run with super low-end hardware, which lends Chromebooks to best serve the budget market and education sector. Of course, Chromebooks are best in areas with wireless Internet access, but Google has vastly boosted their offline functionality over the years. Check out the Dell Chromebook 11 and Toshiba Chromebook for a better idea.

2-in-1 laptops (or hybrid laptops)

If you find yourself jumping back and forth between your laptop and tablet, then perhaps the hybrid was made for you. Enabled by Microsoft's dual-purpose Windows 8, these devices either come as tablets than become more like laptops with accessories, or as laptops that can detach from their keyboards and become tablets in a pinch.

Of course, the idea is to provide one device that successfully serve both use cases, rather than have homes and businesses overwhelmed with gadgets for every scenario. The category has fought an uphill battle toward mainstream acceptance, but by far the most shining example of its potential is Microsoft's own Surface Pro 3.

Gaming laptops

You'll always know a gaming notebook when you see one: hulking size, pulsating lights, garish paint jobs and whirring fans. But with thin-and-light (and stylish) products like the Razer Blade or MSI GS60 Ghost Pro, even that paradigm is starting to shift.

Generally speaking, gaming laptops are equipped with the latest mobile GPUs from Nvidia and AMD in order to play the latest games close to how well they run on their more sedentary counterparts. (In some cases, they're enough to outright replace the desktop.) Look at the Origin EON17-S and Alienware 17 for more perspective.

General use laptops

Notebooks of this sort are tough to categorize. They still adhere to the standards established decades ago of what a laptop is, only vastly refined. Given how the market has siloed itself into several distinct categories at this point, this variety of laptops is generally considered "budget" or "mid-range".

Ranging in screen sizes from 11 to 17 inches, there usually aren't many stand-out characteristics with these mostly-plastic clamshells. These laptops are easy to peg as jacks of all trades: readily able to handle all of your daily tasks, but suffer in more extreme or specifically demanding scenarios.

What does TechRadar recommend?

We're so glad you asked! Below you'll find what we think are the absolute best laptops in a number of categories, always up-to-date.

Best Ultrabooks

The most premium computing experiences around with the price tags to match

Ultrabooks tend to be made with design in mind, so they come in more expensive than most mid-range home laptops. They tend to start from around $999 (about £584, AU$1,063) in the lower end, going to nearly $2,000 (around £1,169, AU$2,129) at the very high end. You're likely to ultimately spend between $899 and $1,500 for a newer model, though you can get some older models for even lower prices.

Best Chromebooks

Google's Chrome-packed computers make for an unbeatable budget buy

Chromebooks focus on what computing has been all about since the late '90s, the web browser, through Google's Chrome operating system. What should you look out for in a Chromebook? The majority of these Google laptops use either the same or similar low-power components. This is largely what is behind the unquestionable affordability of these mobile rigs – most of which start under $300 (about £175, AU$319).

Best gaming laptops

These machines excel in pixel-pushing performance with panache

Focused on real-time, 3D image rendering for the latest games, these laptops almost always come with a premium attached. If you want (at least something close to) the PC gaming experience with the flexibility to move around the house, the asking price generally starts at $1,300 (about £760, AU$1,384) at the low end and maxes out at around $3,000 (around £1,753, AU$ 3,194).

Best 2-in-1 laptops

Business up front, party in the back – the mullets of the computing world

Otherwise known as hybrid laptops, these devices generally sit in the same price range as Ultrabooks, given their mission to serve as two devices in one. That generally gets you a Windows 8 touchscreen device that either flips around its hinge to become a tablet or detaches from its included keyboard accessory (which hopefully doubles as an extra battery).

Best laptops for students

The tech you need to help you land the career you want

Whether you're a freshman in liberals arts or an MBA looking to rock the business world, you need a laptop that will best enable you for the perfect price. While some will naturally be more expensive than others, these are the clamshells best suited for your field of study and, ultimately, your budget.

Best mobile workstations

The best tech to get you through the work week

Whether you're a small business owner with need for a small, lightweight fleet or a spreadsheet cruncher in need of a locked-down, spacious powerhouse, we know which mobile rig fits you best. Even if you're a digital artist, there's a work-ready laptop out there for you. Just be prepared to spend (or expense).

Laptops on our radar for 2015

You've checked out the best laptops out there and now you're hungry for more. Don't worry: so are we, which is why we want to give you a glimpse of some of the hottest devices set to launch soon. Whether you're thinking about picking up a new 2-in-1 to test Windows 10's Continuum feature or intend to replace your ageing gaming laptop in a few months' time, we're keeping an eye on tomorrow's technology so that you can start saving those pennies today.

Toshiba Satellite Click Mini

Let's be honest: despite being servicable, Toshiba's Satellite laptops rarely get us excited. That's one reason why the company's latest 2-in-1, the Satellite Click Mini, turned out to be such a tiny bundle of Windows 8.1 joy when we put it to the test in our hands-on review. With a roomy and crisp 1920 x 1200 pixel-resolution IPS display that belies its titular 8.9 inch frame, the Click Mini is small enough to carry anywhere but provides enough desktop real-estate to actually get tasks done. Toshiba claims that it can go for over 15 hours on a single charge, something we'll put to the test in our full review.

Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi

The Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi is out to steal the Surface Pro 3's crown as the most desirable Windows 8.1 hybrid - and early signs indicate that it might just manage it. Featuring a solid aluminium build that rivals Microsoft's 2-in-1 for quality while remaining stunningly thin and light, it's the detachable keyboard that steals the show.

As Kevin Lee notes in TechRadar's hands-on review, it's substantially more tactile than the Surface Pro 3's Type Cover and suffers minimal flex despite being so thin. It also uses a magnetic latch to attach to the T300 Chi rather than a clamping mechanism, and can be used away from the tablet part thanks to its Bluetooth operation. It's powered by Intel's M5Y10 Intel Core M processor and can be fitted with up to 8GB RAM and a 128GB SSD.

Dell Chromebook 11

Google's Chromebooks have flourished in the education space due to their simple operation, cloud-based apps and affordable nature. Dell's Chromebook 11 for 2015 is a particularly durable model that possesses some nifty features including rubberized edges for protection, a spill-proof keyboard and a light on the lid that can help shy students grab the teacher's attention. Even if you've left the classroom, the Dell Chromebook 11's low price, touted all-day battery life and rugged stylings help it stand out from competing Chromebooks.

MSI GT80 Titan

The MSI GT80 Titan certainly lives up to its name. A hulking beast of a gaming laptop, it's the first to feature a mechanical keyboard and houses not one, but two meaty Nvidia GTX980 GPUs. Adding to the MSI GT80's unusual nature is the fact that it can be upgraded should you want to swap out its mobile graphics cards.

We were so enamoured with the feat of engineering that is the GT80 that we called up MSI to find out how they did it - which you can read here. While its size and cost means it won't be for everybody, it certainly impressed us and we'll be bringing you a full review on these pages soon.

Acer's Chromebook 15 could prove that model if early indications are anything to go by. Its display is 27% larger than the Acer Chromebook 13's, and Acer is promising all-day battery life to watch movies and be productive away from power sockets. With the possibility of a Core i3 CPU inside and up to a 32GB SSD backed up by 4GB of RAM, the biggest Chromebook yet could turn out to be one of the best.